The invention generally relates to an apparatus and attendant method for determining the extent to which food has been cooked. The invention is designed to indicate when food has been cooked as desired and to prevent overcooking or burning of food products. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved electronic chef's fork which correlates cooking food internal temperature to the extent that the food has been cooked in accordance with a preselected "doneness" value. A message or signal is emitted by the device so as to inform the user that a degree of doneness has been achieved for a particular selected food or meat.
Various food products are of the type which can be prepared or cooked in accordance with taste preferences of the person or persons expected to consume the food item. This is especially prevalent with respect to meat food items. Typical such items include individual cuts of meat, food in the form of steaks, chops, patties, roasts, rolls, racks, portions, and the like. For some such meat products, a selection often is made from multiple different extents of cooking in order to provide foods having different degrees of "doneness". For example, meats such as beef, veal and lamb are traditionally cooked according to taste preferences, including rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, and well done. With other food products, all of these different varieties of doneness usually are not followed or chosen, whether due to tradition or to a concern or perception that certain foods are to be well-cooked.
In the past, food thermometers have been used for indicating the amount that the food product is cooked, referred to herein as its "doneness". Most of these previous food thermometer devices incorporate a probe which is inserted into the food. The probe is in operative communication with a temperature measuring device. In some prior art units, the user must have inserted the probe into the food item prior to, or in the early stages of cooking, particularly when the food is being cooked in an enclosed oven, grill or the like.
Often, many of the prior units incorporate a food thermometer which provides a direct reading of the temperature of the cooking food at the location of the probe. With this approach, the user must be aware of the significance of the temperature insofar as it correlates to the extent of doneness which is desired or required for a particular type of meat, for example.
Other cooking thermometer devices provide an indicator, such as a pop-up element, when a threshold temperature is reached in accordance with a predetermined extent of doneness. This latter approach can be especially useful for food products which are not cooked according to selected doneness levels, but they achieve an accepted doneness level at a single selected temperature. In general, cooking thermometer devices of this type are not adjustable. In addition, typically no means are provided for informing the user whether the "done" signal had just occurred or had occurred previously. In the latter event, the desired degree of doneness could have been far surpassed by the time the user recognizes that the signal had been given. This can result in burning or overcooking of a food product.
Cooking thermometers which only report the temperature require a knowledgeable user and diligent monitoring of temperature changes. Cooking thermometers which provide only a doneness indication function typically are not adjustable and likewise require careful and diligent attention to avoid overcooking so that cooking can be stopped or reduced promptly after the doneness indicator has become evident.